Beer lovers buy into NW brewer

BEER lovers have shown their thirst for a new brewing venture by buying a stake in the company. The Campaign for Real A le's (Camra) investment club has taken the share - worth around £240,000 - in Preston-based pubs operator Honeycombe just weeks before the company is taken over by historic Liverpool brewery Cains Beer Company .

BEER lovers have shown their thirst for a new brewing venture by buying a stake in the company.

The Campaign for Real Ale's (Camra) investment club has taken the share - worth around £240,000 - in Preston-based pubs operator Honeycombe just weeks before the company is taken over by historic Liverpool brewery Cains Beer Company .

The enlarged Cains Beer Company will combine the brewer's best-loved pints, such as Cains' Formidable Ale, with Honeycombe's network of around 100 pubs in the north west following the reverse takeover, which should be confirmed on June 7.

Camra's investment club has around £12m in funds in real ale brewers, including £1m-plus stakes in Adnams , Greene King and Marston's .

But this is the first time it has bought as big a stake in a regional business so quickly.

Camra spokesman Dave Goodwin called the tie-up an "exciting development" and added: "Cains is creating the first integrated pub and brewing business to list in over 10 years.

"We see it as a long-term investment and support for a business which is producing quality beers and getting into more outlets as a result of the deal."

Cains' brewery is known in Liverpool as the Terracotta Palace and has been a landmark in the city since 1887.

Cains was losing £2m a year and on the brink of closure when it was bought by Indian entrepreneurs Sudarghara and Ajmail Dusanj in 2002.